China’s Energy Transition Sees Rapid Progress On Renewable Energy.

Hey there! Welcome to CleanTech News, the newsletter that is as good as your day off!

What’s up today:

• China’s Energy Transition Sees Rapid Progress On Renewable Energy - And Coal Power.

• Meme Of The Week.

• Australia Invests $4.29bn In Renewable Energy In December Quarter, 10 Times The Previous Three Months.

• Quick And Clean Weekly Bites.

China’s Energy Transition Sees Rapid Progress On Renewable Energy - And Coal Power.

China is making rapid progress in scaling up clean energy, tentatively boosting hopes that the world’s largest carbon emitter could soon start to curb greenhouse gas pollution.

A massive wave of permits for new coal-fired capacity poses a significant challenge to the country’s climate goals, with Beijing seen as “the glaring exception to the ongoing global decline in coal plant development,” according to the Global Energy Monitor.

Research from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air and GEM published late last month showed China approved the highest number of new coal-fired plants since 2015.

Beijing authorized 106 gigawatts of new coal power capacity in 2022, four times higher than a year earlier and the equivalent of 100 large-fired power plants, the research said.

The extraordinary speed at which China approved the projects was thought to have been driven by energy security considerations, namely electricity shortages following a historic drought and heatwave last summer.

The major additions of new coal-fired capacity may not necessarily mean that carbon emissions from the power sector will increase in China, CREA and GEM analysts said, particularly given the country’s rapid progress in scaling up clean energy.

Meme Of The Week.

Australia Invests $4.29bn In Renewable Energy In December Quarter, 10 Times The Previous Three Months.

Investment in large-scale renewable energy and storage accelerated in the final three months of 2022, creating the largest quarterly investments for more than four years, but the pace remains inadequate, the Clean Energy Council says.

Developers made financial commitments to renewables and storage totalling $4.29bn in the December quarter, a 10-fold increase on the previous three months.

The year-end spurt lifted investment commitments to $6.2bn for 2022, a 17% increase on the previous year.

“While the uptick is encouraging, one quarter doesn’t mean a trend,” said the council’s chief executive, Kane Thornton. “Australia is deploying new large-scale generation – wind and solar farms – more slowly than needed to reach the 82% target for renewable energy on the National Electricity Market” by 2030.

“The fact remains that the rolling quarterly average investment over 12 months has not risen above $2bn since the second quarter of 2019,” Thornton said.

The investment details come a fortnight after the Australian Energy Market Operator warned of potential “reliability gaps” in the national power grid without “urgent” action in coming years to encourage more clean energy capacity and storage.

Quick And Clean Weekly Bites.

• Kangaroo poo could be a surprising ally in the fight against methane-spewing cow farts. It may sound like science fiction from the brain of a 10 year old, but scientists at Washington State University are putting the roo poo to the test. The researchers added a microbial culture made from baby kangaroo faeces plus a known methane inhibitor to a cow stomach simulator. The result? It produced acetic acid instead of methane. Unlike the greenhouse gas, acetic acid isn’t emitted as flatulence and actually benefits cows by aiding muscle growth. So it’s something of a win-win situation. Link.

• London’s night-time skyline might soon look very different, as city authorities draft rules requiring skyscrapers to dim their lights overnight. The initiative will “cut light pollution and save energy”, promised the City of London Corporation, the financial district governing body. If the new plans are adopted, buildings in the Square Mile - the London area where most of its high rise buildings are clustered - will be asked to switch off unnecessary building lights after dark. Link.

• An elusive snow leopard is the winning subject of the latest Wildlife Photographer of the Year’s People’s Choice Award. It’s not easy to capture a ‘ghost of the mountain’ as they’re known in the Indian Himalayas. German photographer Sascha Fonseca embarked on a three-year bait-free camera trap project in order to pose the big cat so perfectly against the pink and purple sunset. Link.